The infusion of Saudi Arabian money has had such a positive impact on the boxing business over the past six months that even bitter British rivals Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren have happily, even if temporarily, learned to get along.
England’s two most prominent promoters lauded Turki Alalshikh during a joint interview streamed by DAZN recently and understandably applauded the head of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority for making most of the biggest fights in the sport since late last year. Warren and Hearn have been pleasantly surprised by Alalshikh’s passion for the sport and his knowledge of fighters who operate below the elite level.
While appreciative of the financial backing Alalshikh has brought to boxing, Hearn and Warren realize that they’ll need to bring British boxing fans a fair share of high-profile fights to their home market as well.
“We gotta keep doing what we do,” Warren told DAZN’s Ade Oladipo during the abovementioned interview. “We’ve got our respective TV companies that we’ve got to deliver shows for. And that will happen, continue to happen.”
Warren’s Queensberry Promotions has an exclusive content agreement in the UK with TNT Sports, formerly known as BT Sport. Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing has an international output deal with DAZN, which replaced Sky Sports as Matchroom’s platform in the UK during the spring of 2021.
British boxing’s two biggest stars – literally and figuratively – will have their next fights at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Former IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua (27-3, 24 KOs) will face former UFC heavyweight champ Francis Ngannou (0-1) in a pay-per-view main event March 8. Tyson Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs) and Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs) will fight for Fury’s WBC heavyweight crown and Usyk’s IBF, IBO, WBA and WBO championships in another pay-per-view match May 18, three months later than anticipated due to Fury’s cut sustained during a sparring session early this month.
That doesn’t mean, however, that Hearn and Warren won’t bring big events back to the UK, where Joshua and Fury have headlined huge shows in recent years.
“I think [there’s] more pressure to do that than ever, actually, to prove to people that, you know, this is our home,” Hearn said. “This is our primary market for both of us, so I wanna try and see three or four big arena fights or stadium fights solidified. But, of course, this is a big opportunity for boxing, and our fighters. We can’t disregard that, either.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for krikya360.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.